Ap in Cold Blood

In part three of Capote's In Cold Blood, the book gives a more clear understanding of how Perry and Dick came to know of the Clutters and earned their “score”. It has detailed excerpts from interviews with Floyd Wells, Dick's friend from prison who is also the same person who tells him everything he needs to know about the Clutters, as well as, Mr and Mrs. Hickock, Dick's parents who are worried for their son and concerned about his whereabouts. The author was able to create and portray a good amount of sympathy for Dick's parents by making them appear poor and gentle as well as by how they speak about their son, and are willing to forgive him for his mistakes. In creating sympathy for the parents, the author also indirectly creates some sympathy for Dick by using certain quotes, by Mr. Hickock, that describe his life before he went into prison. There are many ways in which Truman Capote portrays sympathy for the Hickocks in this section. He uses interviews from the locals who live around where Dick's family lives. When Officer Nye investigates the nearby folks, one farmer's wife tells him,“Don't talk to me about Dick Hickock! If ever I met the devil![...] Dick would've gone to jail more times than you can count, except nobody around here ever wanted to prosecute out of respect for his folks.” Essentially, she is trying to say that although Dick gets into plenty of trouble, no one ever really says anything about it, out of kindness to his parents, who are “both plain and honest people.” Capote also uses certain phrases and quotes that stand out to the reader, which in turn evokes sympathy, from the interview with Dick's parents themselves. “He wanted to go on to college. Study to be an engineer . But we couldn't do it. Plain didn't have the money. Never have had any money.” The fact that they are not a rich and well-off family is made clear when Mr. Hickock...

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...In ColdBlood Essay (Question 3)
In the novel In ColdBlood, Truman Capote portrays Perry Smith as both a victim and a hero in order to make the reader connect more sympathetically with Smith, thus making him the protagonist of the text.
Protagonists are generally the character with whom readers sense the author has the most sympathy. Throughout the text Smith is constantly portrayed as the victim. In the first introduction regarding Smith describing his physical appearance prior to the murders, Capote uses word choice to create the impression that Perry is the victim, thus causing the reader to feel more sympathetic towards Smith. Smith was severely “…maimed” and his injuries “…were more severe” (Capote 31) than his partner in crime, Dick Hickock. The description of both murders favors Smith, causing the readers to feel more sorrow towards Smith than Hickock. In Smith’s final biography from the last section before execution Smith claimed that he had weak kidneys, “…& wet the bed every night” (Capote 275), which resulted in humiliation and physical abuse from a nun at one of the Detention Homes. This deeply personal detail creates a connection between the reader and the protagonist and solidifies the relationship between the reader and Smith before Smith’s execution.
Heroes are commonly looked up to for their courageous actions and are significantly missed when they are gone. Bravery is usually the strongest...

...﻿Essay #2 In ColdBlood
The novel In ColdBlood is described as a nonfiction novel by its author Truman Capote. Some question this statement, saying that one cannot combine fiction-writing elements and reality when penning a true story. The book is a documentary of a crime that took place; however, Capote decided to add a novel-like feel to it. He took an appalling case that graced many newspapers, and morphed it into a version that people could relate to, that showed an in-depth perspective on the murderers and many other characters involved in the case that would have otherwise been overlooked in a newspaper article. But there is nothing made-up or counterfeit in what was written. There is, rather, an intrigue that draws readers in and makes them wonder about the story in a way a news headline could not. The imagery and the journalistic style of the novel make it so. The fictional elements present in the novel only emphasize the truth, not alter the story. Literature is defined as: writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. Nonfiction is described as: prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or history. As you can see, in each definition they included a biography as an example. So, it makes perfect sense for In...

... Although the novel, In ColdBlood, by Truman Capote, shocked the nation in its description of a heinous murder of an entire family, the initial crime theory included a murder-suicide since the husband and wife slept in separate bedrooms. However, through careful, descriptive analysis of the crime scene, the actual culprits of the cold, blooded killing were found and determined to have serious mental illness of schizophrenia and other brain injuries leading to a series of events that ended in a brutal crime.
The state of Kansas lacked money to examine Dick and Perry, but Doctor W. Mitchell Johns volunteered his services, as a specialist in criminal psychology and determining criminally sane and insane. However, Perry felt they know they just want to be entertained and hear the killers own terrible lips” (268). Dr. Mitchell worked with twenty-five murder cases and he ran a series of test on Perry and Dick. He found that Dick was not mentally ill, but Perry on the other hand, had mild type of Schizophrenia. Finally, the judge said, “we will find out if they are insane, imbeciles or idiots, unable to comprehend their positions and aid in their defense” (266).
Once Dick and Perry were in court, Perry decided to give a part of his life story saying “I was very severely beaten by the cottage mistress, who had called me names and made fun of me in front of all the boys for wetting the bed at night” (275). “In 1948, Perry joined the...

...﻿Jazmin Castro
Mrs. Clement
AP Language and Composition, Period 7
10 April 2014
Entry 1, page 5
“But afterward the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and over again—those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust in the glare of which many old neighbors viewed each other strangely, and as strangers.”
I found this quote to be a sad truth. It is disappointing to know that in this small town wherein everyone was on a friendly basis with one another, they would all turn their backs on neighbors they’ve known forever, due to the dangers of their own imagination. Once someone has my trust, I don’t think twice about helping them or confiding in them. And in return, anyone who puts their trust in me should feel safe telling me their deepest, darkest secrets. However, when that trust is broken, so is the image of that person. Then I wonder: if they would lie about something that meant a great deal to our friendship, who knows what other lies they must’ve spread? I begin to question who they are, and if they were ever my friend in the first place. It’s as if I am seeing them in a whole new light. The worst part is, no matter how hard I may try, I just can’t bring myself to talk to that person as comfortably as I had before. Now I have to think: do they have an ulterior motive, or are they honestly trying to regain...

...Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In ColdBlood, was a breakthrough in literacy in that it was accredited as the first non-fiction novel. There was a lot of controversy when the book was first published because of the incredibility of the work. This could be expected in that time, because people where not familiar with the concept of non-fiction novels yet, but this is where the beauty of this style of writing lies, the recreation of the truth. It would have been impossible for Capote to have documented the occurrence fully, because he only read about the murder after it had happen, after all, this was not what he wanted to do. Capote got a lot of criticism for the book, because of him bending the truth, putting in scenes that never happened and his ways of gathering information, but people still saw the talent that went into creating the non-fiction novel. Truman Capote will forever be recognized for this novel and the contribution he made to literacy. In this essay we will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of In ColdBlood when it delivers facts and the credibility of the work. We will also be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the novel when Capote bends reality and ad some parts of fiction.
Capote never intended for In ColdBlood to be a documentary of the multiple murder that happened in the small town of Holcomb. When Capote published his novel, people where not...

..."My acquaintances are many, my friends are few; those who really know me fewer still."
Many people all over the world have live a troubled life. Their past experiences may have driven them to do things that they never intended to do. But the outside world is always looking down on them without even knowing what has led them to doing what they have done.
Throughout his novel, In ColdBlood, Capote tells the reader of Perry Smith’s past to make the reader feel sorry for Perry, as is evident in the following discussion. To better understand how the author conveyed this, one must examine Perry’s dream, his life in the Detention Home, and his relationship with this father and his mother.
People can learn a lot about a person by simply looking at what someone’s dreams consist of. In, In ColdBlood, Capote tells the reader about Perry’s dream through his point of view.
"What it comes down to is I want the diamonds more than I'm afraid of the snake. So I go to pick one, I have the diamond in my hand, I'm pulling at it, when the snake lands on top of me. We wrestle around, but he's a slippery sonofabitch and I can't get a hold, he's crushing me, you can hear my legs cracking...he starts to swallow me. Feet first. Like going down in quicksand.”
Capote writes what Perry describes to him. The reader can see that Perry has stumbled upon something he desires very much. He talks about how he has found a diamond tree but...

...A. Kincaid
American Literature
Essay
“In ColdBlood” vs. “In coldBlood”
Truman Capote’s novel “In ColdBlood” written in 1966 became such an American crime classic that it was turned into a novel immediately in 1967. The book and the movie follow the story of a murder in Holcomb, Kansas by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. This great American crime novel was turned into a movie by director Richard Brooks. The movie follows the book step for step due to the writing style by Truman Capote. The novel lets us use our imagination and films usually loose the effect of this but “In ColdBlood” the film version is an extension of the book fulfilling all the senses.
“In ColdBlood” the book and the film are mirrors of each other. “Given that In ColdBlood is often described as “cinematic” – the book’s episodic structure and its quick transitions between multiple plotlines make it read more like a movie than a classical novel” (Gradesaver.com 2011). This style made the movie and the novel read and watches perfectly. The Movie follows the scenes and timeline of the book. It’s not often that a movie captures the pacing and the perfect timeline of a novel but “In ColdBlood” does exactly that.
The characters in the movie fulfill my mental interpretation of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The...

...Capote was born in New Orleans in 1925, a harsh time in America. He was brought up in an amalgamation of places in the South of America, moving among New Orleans, Alabama and New Georgia. He began writing stories at the age of fourteen, depending on the seasonal changes. He later went on to work for the New Yorker after having left school at fifteen. He soon became renowned as the author of the celebrated Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Finally, he published his masterpiece, In ColdBlood, which is most certainly a work of art that changed the nature of writing for all time to come. The novel is filled with contrasting themes, ranging between moments of sombreness and cheeriness, invoking various emotions when reading the non-fictional novel. The novel revolves around the lives of the infamous murderers, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith and the story of how they murdered four innocent people, known as the Clutter family. This essay will explore the relationship between character and theme presented in In ColdBlood, referring specifically to the characters of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, assessing the question about whether the characters are portrayed empathetically or as ruthless murderers, the theme of light versus dark being represented in each of these two characters. The contrast drawn between Dick and Perry and the Clutter family will be shown with reference to minor characters that influence the reader’s...